Kate Ellis Spirals Album Released on Viny Featuring “Hurt”
Iconic bonus track “Hurt” recorded during the album studio sessions – released as single with stunning new music video
Over 700,000 streams for Spirals on online platforms; Limited edition, hand-num- bered vinyl to be released on album anniversary, prompted by fan demand
VINYL LAUNCH – GREEN NOTE – MON 27TH FEBRUARY
”Spirals is an absolute joy. An irrefutable, unquestionable joy. 9/10” AMERICANA UK
”A class act, one to watch – a voice that has lived a life and has stories to tell.”
BAYLEN LEONARD
“Deserves to be placed alongside the very best albums by Nanci Griffith, Mary Chapin Carpenter and Brandi Carlisle. Yes, it’s that good.” SHIREFOLK MAGAZINE
“Kate Ellis put down her law degree to pick up a guitar – thank God she did!”
BBC RADIO ULSTER
A limited edition of 300 hand-numbered vinyls of Kate Ellis’s critically acclaimed sophomore album ‘Spirals’ will be released on March 3, 2023 on River Rose Records, one year after its original launch. The album, which showcases the Louisiana-born singer-songwriter’s melancholic Americana/Folk style and fearless soul-searching, will be distributed in the UK and ten other EU territories by Continental Record Services.
‘Spirals’ is the record that allowed Kate to take the whirlwind in her head and put it to song and has been streamed on online platforms over 700,000 times since release. The album received high praise from reviewers, with W21 Music saying that “Musically and lyrically this is sharp, brilliant, faultless songwriting that stops you in your tracks”, while Maverick Magazine gave it 8/10 and heralded Ellis as “A songwriter who is deeply in touch with her emotions and has a way of perfectly capturing them in her music.” Spirals’ was also named as Album of the Year by a number of independent radio DJs and listed among the Top 40 Americana Albums of the Year.
PRE-ORDER NEW ALBUM SPIRALS HERE
Kate Ellis said of the vinyl edition: “The physical properties of a vinyl record as an object have always been very important to me. My dad’s collection really influenced me musically growing up and shaped the music I love and write. I’ve got some cherished records of his and I love that they are old and were loved by him. A lot of people have asked me about ‘Spirals’ on vinyl so I’m thrilled that it’s now available.”
“HURT” – VINYL BONUS TRACK AND NEW SINGLE / MUSIC VIDEO
“Hurt is one of those songs that you wish you had written. A simple structure and melody that conveys the most powerful and complex emotions.
I am in awe of songs that can do that.”
–– Kate Ellis
The limited-edition vinyl of ‘Spirals’ comes with the previously unreleased, special bonus track ‘Hurt’ – a cover of the iconic song by Trent Reznor, most famously re-interpreted by Johnny Cash at the end of his life. It was recorded during the Spirals album studio sessions with producer John Reynolds (Sinead O’Connor, Indigo Girls, Belinda Carlisle, Damien Dempsey).
While recording ‘Hurt’ and the other songs on ‘Spirals’, Kate Ellis and John Reynolds connected strongly over a desire to capture the emotional truth in the music. “One of the things I love about John Reynolds’ production on ‘Hurt’ is how he really brings out the feeling of redemption”, Kate says. “The angelic, choral harmonies of Pauline Scanlon and the gorgeous, driving, layered cello arrangement by Caroline Dale create a feeling of looking up to the heavens for help, surrendering to this feeling of pain and in doing so finding a kind of solace.”
Kate adds: “‘Hurt’ is a pure, bare, elemental outpouring of human suffering so simply and beautifully conveyed. The melody works in complete harmony with the lyrics to bring the listener down to the song’s base level of despair.” According to Kate the song fits perfectly as a bonus track on a record that is about finding a new understanding of ways to cope with the demons and dramas that can take over our minds. “In ‘Hurt’ there is a strength that comes out of this voice of despair, like someone who has reached rock bottom, and in doing so has found the strength to get through and possibly, with the last line, find another way to live.”
The music video for ‘Hurt’ is as beautiful and atmospheric as the recording and was made by Benny Trickett, who has worked with legends like Pink Floyd, Kings of Leon and Beyoncé, and Gabi Norland, who has filmed artists such as Kate Tempest, Suede and Dexy’s Midnight Runners. The video was shot in London’s magnificent Asylum Chapel, a Grade II listed building with a combination of crumbling beauty and ethereal grace, perfectly mirroring the song’s theme of earthly decay and spiritual hope.
ABOUT KATE ELLIS
Kate Ellis is a Louisiana-born singer-songwriter who uses melancholy Americana and Folk to conduct fearless soul-searching. Kate’s southern country-folk roots come from her father who was an important early musical influence – he once played guitar with Hank Williams on the famous Louisiana Hayride, where Elvis and Johnny Cash started out. A journalist for the Observer described hauntingly beautiful songs, while No Depression said her debut record ‘Carve Me Out’ is “An album of great warmth and feeling that just makes you press repeat.” Americana UK gave her second album ‘Spirals’ 9/10 calling it “An irrefutable, unquestionable joy” while Folk Radio UK said, “Beguilingly sung, melodic, warm, tender, open and insightful – an early contender for the year’s best-of lists.”
More info at www.kateellis.com.
